


Christmas Cookies

by southsidewrites



Series: A Very Merry Southside Christmas [3]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: But mostly fluff, Christmas, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Love, Mild Angst, One Shot, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, southside serpents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 09:39:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17261891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/southsidewrites/pseuds/southsidewrites
Summary: When Toni uncovers an old Blossom family recipe for maple syrup Christmas cookies, she makes it her mission to make her first Christmas with Cheryl the absolute best Christmas ever.





	Christmas Cookies

“Hey, T.T., what are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” Toni snapped, slamming the book on her lap shut and attempting to bury it underneath a throw pillow. “Nothing at all.”

“No, really,” Cheryl said, sitting down next to her on the couch. “Let me see.”

Sheepishly, Toni pulled the book out and put it on hers and Cheryl’s laps. “Sorry, Cheryl, I know how much you don’t like looking at these old photo albums, but I—I just couldn’t help myself when I found it in the box with the decorations.”

Smiling, Cheryl tucked a lock of pink hair behind Toni’s ear to kiss her on the cheek. “It’s okay, really.  Not all of the memories are bad ones.”

“Okay, then, good.” Toni reopened to the page she was on.  It was full of Christmas pictures, and Cheryl and Jason couldn’t have been more than five or six years old.

“Oh my gosh, look how little Jason and I were,” she laughed, pointing at a picture of the two of them covered in flour. “We always tried to help Nana Rose make these special maple syrup cookies every year, and I’m sure we just made more of a mess than anything.”

Toni laughed and pointed at another. “I like this one.” In the picture, tiny Cheryl was holding a big spoon in one hand and a cookie in the other.  Her smile was so big that it seemed to take up her whole face. “You were so cute.”

“ _Were?”_ Cheryl asked, giving her an amused look.

“Of course, you still are, baby.” Toni laughed and gave her a quick kiss. “I don’t think I’ve seen you smile like that in a long time, though.”

Cheryl’s face dropped slightly, and then she shook it off. “Christmas is just kind of hard, you know.  My parents never made it all that fun since they usually just left us with a babysitter while they went to some fancy party, and once Nana Rose lived in a home, she stopped baking cookies.” She looked back down at the pictures, and her eyes started to water when she saw another one of her, Jason, and Nana Rose crowded around a table rolling out dough together. “It really wasn’t all bad, though—we had some really, really good Christmases.”

Toni wrapped her arm around her girlfriend, pressing a soft kiss on the top of her head. “Well, this is going to be a good one, Cheryl, I promise.”

Cheryl laughed, wiping away a tear. “Any Christmas with you is going to be a good one, T.T.”  Behind them, a phone started ringing, and Cheryl let out a soft groan. “That’s mine.  I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Sounds good.” As Cheryl got up, and Toni returned her attention to the photo album, flipping to the next page.  What she saw there made her grin widen.  Tucked in next to the pictures was a scrap of paper covered in neat script writing.

“Blossom Family Maple Syrup Christmas Cookies,” Toni whispered, reading the top line.  She looked around, making sure that Cheryl had left the room.  Then, she gently slipped the recipe out of the album, making sure to fold the aged paper carefully before tucking it into her pocket.  Quickly, she closed the album and re-stashed it in the bin full of Christmas decorations that they had recently dragged out of the basement. “Hey, Cheryl,” she called.

Cheryl popped back into the room, covering the phone with her hand. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“I’m going to run to the store quick—is there anything else we need for tonight?”

“Nope.” Cheryl shook her head. “Not that I can think of.”

“Perfect.” Toni darted over and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll be right back, then.”

“Okay, see you later, babe!”

“See you later!” Toni could barely contain her smile as she yanked on her coat and shoes.

* * *

 

After a surprise coffee run/gift exchange with Josie, Cheryl came home to see that the house was almost entirely dark.  She pushed open the back door, the one that led directly into the kitchen, and she couldn’t believe her eyes.  The whole room had been decorated for Christmas with lights, garlands, and little Santa’s and reindeer.  The lights gave the room a cozy glow, and the heat from the oven made her entire body feel warm.  There was soft Christmas music playing in the background, and Cheryl could swear she heard the fireplace crackling from the other room.

The absolute best part, though, was Toni. Toni was standing in the middle of the room, next to the island, and she was wearing a bright green Christmas apron.  She had a matching red one in her hand.

“Merry Christmas, Cheryl,” she said. “I promised you an amazing Christmas, and here it is.”

Cheryl was at a loss for words, but when she saw the ingredients waiting on the table, her jaw dropped. “Maple syrup cookies?” she breathed.  Next to the jar of fresh syrup, there was a small scrap of paper.  Che recognized the handwriting immediately. “Nana Rose’s maple syrup cookies?”

“Mhm.” Toni wrapped her arms around her, kissing her lightly on the cheek. “I found the recipe in the photo album, and I thought it would be the perfect way to spend our first Christmas together.  Take the best old traditions and make them the best new traditions, you know?”

Cheryl felt tears starting to leak from her eyes, and she quickly brushed them away. “Toni, this is—this is absolutely perfect.” She turned to face her, cupping her cheeks to hold her close. “You’re the best girlfriend ever.”

“Don’t say that yet,” Toni laughed. “I’ve never really baked before, so there’s a real chance I’ll completely ruin the cookies.”

“Nah, I’m a pretty good teacher.”

“Alright then, let’s bake some cookies.  Just show me what I need to do, Miss Cookie Expert.”

Laughing, Cheryl kissed her quickly. “First, I think I need that apron.  This outfit would not look good with flour on it.”

Toni handed her the apron and turned back to the island. “So, what’s first?”

Cheryl expertly tied the apron and pulled her hair into a ponytail. “You start mixing the dry ingredients, and I’ll start on the eggs.”

The two of them got to work measuring, mixing, and pouring.  Toni wasn’t lying that she wasn’t a great baker, but Cheryl more than made up for it as the memories came flooding back in.

“Perfect, T.T., just keep mixing it until all the flour’s worked in.”

“And then what do we do next?”

“Then we roll it out and start cutting the shapes—that was always my favorite part.” Cheryl’s grin was wide, even though she was focused on getting the recipe just right.

“Hey, Cheryl,” Toni said softly, putting the bowl and spoon down.

“What?” she asked, looking up from the frosting mix she was working on. “Need help?”

“No, it’s just—” Her lips curved into a subtle grin. “You’ve got that smile.”

“What smile?”

“The one from the pictures, the one from all those years ago.”

She laughed, trying to contain it, but she couldn’t. “I guess I do, don’t I?”

“You’re just missing one thing.” Grinning mischievously, Toni dipped her fingers into the flour and started walking toward Cheryl.

“Toni, don’t do it,” she warned, holding her hands out to keep the shorter girl at bay. “You don’t need to do that.”

“Do what?” she asked, ducking under her arms. “This?” She flicked her fingers, sending a little cloud of flour at Cheryl’s face. 

“You didn’t.”

“I did.”

“Now, you’re going to get it, Topaz.” Cheryl ducked around Toni, diving for the flour and grabbing a handful.  Within seconds, the whole room has exploded in puffs of flour and uncontrollable laughter.  The two girls threw fistfuls of flour at each other, covering every surface with it.  Finally, when their laughter died down, they stopped and looked at each other.

“You look like a ghost,” Toni laughed, running her fingertip down Cheryl’s cheek to brush away the thick flour.

“So do you,” she laughed, grabbing her waist and pulling her close. “And you got flour on my outfit.”

“What?  Did the apron not protect you?” Toni murmured, her lips just inches away from Cheryl’s.

“No, it did not.” She closed the gap between them, pressing her lips into hers.  Kissing Toni was like melting because every line between them seemed to blur.  Wrapped in her arms, Cheryl felt so impossibly warm and safe, like nothing could ever go wrong again.  Even when they both tasted like flour, it was absolutely perfect. “I love you, T.T.”

“I love you, too, Cheryl.”

Cheryl fixed her messy ponytail, shaking out some of the flour. “Now, we’ve got some cookies to finish.”

* * *

 

“No way, babe, this one’s the best,” Toni laughed, holding up a person-shaped cookie with red frosting for hair. “Look at the hair—it’s obviously you.”

Cheryl laughed, pulling the thick quilt tighter around herself as she grabbed another cookie off the plate.  Her and Toni were cuddled up on the rug in front of the fireplace listening to music and eating way too many cookies.  “I like this one.” It was another person-shaped cookie with pink hair instead of red.

“That one’s pretty cute, too.” Toni set down the Cheryl-cookie and took a bite out of a tree-shaped one with green icing. “These turned out pretty dang good.”

“Of course, they did—I learned from the best.” Cheryl looked up at the mantle to see the other surprise Toni had put together for her.  On the mantle, right between the pictures of the River Vixen’s and the Serpents, she had framed one of the pictures of Cheryl, Jason, and Nana Rose covered in flour and holding cookies.  Cheryl was already planning on printing out a picture of her and Toni to go with it. “Babe, let’s make this an every year tradition.”

Toni curled in closer, resting her head on Cheryl’s shoulder. “Every year forever and ever?” she murmured sleepily.

“Forever and ever.  Merry Christmas, T.T.”

“Merry Christmas, Cheryl.” Cheryl let her eyes fall shut, running her fingertips through Toni’s hair.  As they lay there, warm and cozy by the heat of the fire, she decided that she couldn’t wait for forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed this, be sure to check out the other works for the Riverdale Reindeer Games!


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